Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Research: International Cooperation

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the result of the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, how they plan to ensure that UK universities and research institutions do not face barriers to international research co-operation.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The UK has a long established system that supports and attracts the brightest minds, at all stages of their careers. We fund excellent science wherever it is found and ensure there is the freedom to tackle important scientific questions. While the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU arrangements continue unchanged, including those that apply to students, researchers, and businesses. We remain fully open to scientists and researchers from across the EU. We hugely value the contribution of EU and international staff and there are no immediate changes to their rights to live and work in the UK.

EURATOM

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the result of the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, whether they plan to negotiate ending the UK's membership of Euratom.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government’s guiding principle throughout the process of leaving the EU will be to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israel: Teachers

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports of its intention to reduce the budget for Arab teacher training colleges in Northern Israel to half that of the budget allocated to Jewish teacher training colleges.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the need for equal treatment of all of Israel’s citizens with the Israeli government. Although we have not raised this particular issue, we recognise the importance of equality regarding teacher training, access to education and the role of education in building understanding between communities.

Waleed Abulkhair

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they made on 19 May to the government of Saudi Arabia about the case of Mr Waleed Abu Al-Khair; what response they received; and whether there has been any progress on that case since then.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are not aware of progress in the case of Walid Abu Al-Khair since last raised with the Saudi Arabian authorities on the 19 May. We believe that we will be more successful in discussing cases privately with Saudi Arabia and we will continue to follow this case closely and will raise when appropriate.

Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference

Lord Cashman: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is representing them at the LGBTI Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo and what update they can provide about the proceedings of that Conference.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK was represented at the Montevideo conference by Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials and by a representative from the Kaleidoscope Trust, a UK civil society organisation working to promote the advancement of the rights of LGB&T people globally. The conference brought together representatives of governments, civil society organisations and multilateral organisations and agencies. It discussed: diplomatic efforts to promote and protect the equal rights of LGB&T and intersex people; their social inclusion; efforts to ensure the commitment made in the Sustainable Development Goals to 'leave no one behind' is fulfilled; and ways to coordinate donor funding to best support these objectives.

Sudan: Foreign Relations

Lord Sheikh: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK–Sudan strategic dialogue initiated in March represents a change of approach in foreign policy towards Sudan, and whether that dialogue will continue.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Our objectives in Sudan have not changed. The British Government continues to work with its partners to end the conflicts, improve the serious humanitarian and human rights situation and tackle migration. The launch of the strategic dialogue underlines our commitment to discuss these and other issues with the Government of Sudan.

Sudan: Counter-terrorism

Lord Sheikh: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the positive contributions made by Sudan, particularly in regard to combatting terrorism and radicalisation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: As part of the strategic dialogue with Sudan, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Africa Director Neil Wigan visited Khartoum in March to discuss a range of issues, including tackling extremism. We welcome the Sudanese Government's interest in cooperating on such issues of mutual concern.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Lord Sheikh: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the ceasefire declarations by the government of Sudan and the rebel movements in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We welcome the Sudanese Government’s announcement of a cessation of hostilities for the Two Areas last month, and the opposition’s announcement in April. We are aware of recent allegations of breaches and our Ambassador in Khartoum raised this issue with the Chief of Staff for the Sudanese Armed Forces on 18 July who reiterated the government’s commitment to upholding the cessation of hostilities. We continue to call on all sides to ensure the declarations are respected and allow full humanitarian access.

Horn of Africa: EU Immigration

Lord Sheikh: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure a positive and constructive role for Sudan as part of the Khartoum Process.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK is engaging with the Sudanese Government to tackle the full range of migration issues. As part of the Khartoum Process, we are discussing the challenges faced by all countries in the region, including the Sudan, and we welcome the constructive contribution they have made so far, in particular in hosting a meeting on smuggling and trafficking in May.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Lord Sheikh: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, as part of the troika, to persuade opposition movements in Sudan to sign the African Union’s Roadmap for Peace, and to encourage the government of Sudan’s commitment to it.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Together with our Troika partners, we issued a statement on 27 May supporting the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel. We welcome the Sudanese Government’s signing of the roadmap agreement and continue to urge the opposition to do the same. The UK’s Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan and our Ambassador in Khartoum are in regular contact with the government and opposition groups.

Ilois: Resettlement

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the comments by Lord Mance in the Supreme Court’s judgment in R (on the application of Bancoult (No 2)) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2016] UKSC 35 that a refusal to allow resettlement of the Chagos Islands could be judicially reviewed as potentially "irrational, unreasonable and/or disproportionate", what steps they plan to take to reach a reasoned decision on the issue of resettlement as quickly as possible.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In the last Parliament, the Cabinet asked for further detailed work to understand the uncertainties around cost and demand for resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, have refined uncertainties around costs, and a 12 week public consultation was carried out to clarify demand. The results of the consultation were published in January 2016. Officials are now carrying out remaining work on the options available before the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), takes a final decision on the policy. There is no date yet when an announcement on possible resettlement will be made. Developments will be announced to Parliament and the public in due course.

Ilois: Resettlement

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support the resolution from Mauritius at the forthcoming UN General Assembly calling for the matter of the resettlement of Chagos islanders to be referred to the International Court of Justice.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are not aware of any plans by Mauritius for a resolution at the next UN General Assembly regarding the resettlement of Chagos islanders to be referred to the International Court of Justice (ICC). On 17 May the Prime Minister of Mauritius expressed to the Mauritian Parliament his intention to seek a referral by the UN General Assembly to the ICC this autumn, in order to obtain an advisory opinion in relation to sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). We would not support any such resolution as we are in no doubt about British sovereignty over BIOT.

Saudi Arabia: Capital Punishment

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia about the use of the death penalty against minors.

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made this year to the government of Saudi Arabia regarding the use of beheading and crucifixion as criminal punishments.

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the Specialised Criminal Court in Saudi Arabia to sentence Ali Mohammed Baqir Al-Nimr, Abdullah Al-Zaher and Dawood Al-Marhoon to death by crucifixion for seeking democratic reforms in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially for crimes other than the most serious and for juveniles, in line with the minimum standards set out in the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty of 2008 and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights.We continue to raise the cases of Ali Al-Nimr, Dawood Al-Marhoon and Adullah Al-Zaher with the Saudi authorities at the highest levels, including during the former Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond)’s most recent visit to Saudi Arabia on 29 May. We expect that Ali Al-Nimr and the two others who were convicted as juveniles will not be executed.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Olympic Games: Brazil

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the allegations of widespread doping by Russian athletes, whether they intend to back calls by the US and Canada anti-doping agencies for all Russian athletes to be banned from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: While this is solely a decision for the International Olympic Committee, the scale of the evidence in the McLaren report arguably pointed to the need for stronger sanctions rather than leaving it to the international federations at this late stage. There is clearly more work to be done to protect the integrity of sport on a global scale. No stone should be left unturned to ensure that athletes can compete on a level playing field.

Department for Work and Pensions

Welfare Assistance Schemes

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of England is covered by Local Welfare Assistance Schemes; and what assessment they have made of whether those schemes have the necessary resources to make known the emergency financial support that is available to benefit claimants suffering from delays or other problems connected with Universal Credit.

Lord Freud: From April 2013, non-ring fenced funding was passed to local authorities in England and to the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, who all now administer Welfare Assistance Schemes on a devolved and localised basis. How those local authorities administer this support is for them to decide and outside of my Department’s remit. In 2014 the Department undertook a review of this change and confirmed that local authorities were delivering targeted support more effectively than was the case with the previous provision under the Social Fund. This confirmed the Government’s wider view that local authorities are best placed to deliver help and support at a local level, ensuring effective provision for those who need it most, and coherent links with wider social care. Further support is available from Universal Credit and Universal Support for claimants who are in financial difficulty or who are awaiting a Universal Credit payment. This includes advance payments, Alternative Payment Arrangements (more frequent payments, split payments within a household and the payment of rent direct to landlords) and Personal Budgeting support.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Green Belt

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 July (HL1065), which are the 24 local authorities that have adopted new green belt boundaries and what is their estimate of (1) the subsequent loss of greenbelt land, and (2) how much greenbelt land has been lost in England during the last five years.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The list of 24 local authorities (see below) that have adopted new Green Belt boundaries in the last five years will be placed in the Library of the House. This includes an estimate of the increase or decrease in Green Belt area in each case. Over the last five years the area of Green Belt nationally decreased by 0.2 per cent , and overall the Green Belt is larger than it was in 1997 if we disregard land re-classified as national park. 2014-15Area of designated Green Belt land 2014/15 (hectares)Change from 2013/14 (hectares)Bath and North East Somerset24,690-100 (0%)-100Bolton7,230-50 (-1%)-50Broxtowe5,130-20 (0%)-20Cheshire West and Chester39,170-60 (0%)-60Christchurch3,270-200 (-6%)-200East Dorset16,720-160 (-1%)-160Gateshead8,530-150 (-2%)-150Newcastle upon Tyne3,980-410 (-9%)-410Rushcliffe16,570-670 (-4%)-670Solihull11,870-40 (0%)-40Three Rivers6,720-110 (-2%)-102013-14Area of designated Green Belt land 2013/14 (hectares)Change from 2012/13 (hectares)Rochford12,570-190 (-2%)-190South Gloucestershire23,030-210 (-1%)-210West Lancashire34,470-150 (0%)-1502012-13Area of designated Green Belt land 2012/13 (hectares)Change from 2011/12 (hectares)Ealing310-20 (-6%)-20Manchester1,280-430 (-25%)-430Purbeck8,200+460 (+6%)460Wakefield23,500-400 (-2%)-4002011-12Area of designated Green Belt land 2011/12 (hectares)Change from 2010/11 (hectares)Chelmsford12,850-35 (0%)-35Hyndburn3,990-41 (-1%)-41Thurrock11,920-51 (0%)-512010-11Area of designated Green Belt land 2010/11 (hectares)Change from 2009/10 (hectares)Enfield3,060-30 (-1%)-30Vale of WH8,310+5 (0%)5Slough860+30 (+3%)30

Department of Health

Vaccination

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how best to evaluate the impact of vaccination programmes to prevent rare diseases of high severity, and in particular the cost-effectiveness of the vaccination of children.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government bases its evaluation of vaccination programmes on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), other expert groups and evidence from a wide range of epidemiologists and other experts. Their considerations include the impact of rare diseases, immunisation, and impacts on children. The methodology used to assess cost-effectiveness of regular (i.e. non-emergency) immunisation programmes is based on published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Guide to the methods of technology appraisal 2013. A copy of the guidance is attached. The Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements (CEMIPP) working group has reviewed whether any changes to the methodology might be appropriate for immunisation and the Government is considering the advice.



Guide to the methods of technology appraisal 2013
(PDF Document, 362.16 KB)

Vaccination

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the scope of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group has shifted from its original purpose, and if so, why.

Lord Prior of Brampton: No, the Terms of Reference have not changed.

Vaccination

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group’s final report has been provided to the Department of Health, and if so, when that report will be published.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group’s recommendations will be subject to public consultation, and if so, when.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department received the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements report on 20 July 2016. The report will be published in due course. A decision on consultation has not yet been made.

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) operating differently to other health technology assessment bodies, such as NICE, as stated in the minutes of the June JCVI meeting, in the event that the recommendations of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group are adopted.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure consistency between the recommendations of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group and those of the Department of Health’s Appraisal Alignment Working Group on similar issues.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The report of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement (CEMIPP) review was received in the Department on 20 July. The Department is considering this report and its potential implications.